By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
Running a government providing services for 16,000 constituents must be a daunting task, to say the least. And to that the stress of administering a conjectured an approximate $300 million budget and you might see why leaders of such organizations are overly cautious and why phrases like “out of an abundance of caution” pop up on the regular.
Like many big corporations, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has a leadership structure akin to a large business entity. The Ugvwiyuhi (Chief) acts as the chief operations officer or chief executive officer and the Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) acts similar to a Board of Directors. The Ugvwiyuhi and Dinilawigi act under the power of and report to that 16,000-member constituency, or in the business world, we would be called stockholders. We, as stockholders, own the hypothetical corporation, known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Unlike most other tribes who live on land supplied by the federal government, land called reservations, the Eastern Cherokee own their land in western North Carolina. We own the land, but by agreement with the federal government, the original lands purchased (and a few subsequent lands since the original purchase at the request of the Eastern Band) are held “in trust”, meaning that the Eastern Band cannot sell those parcels to anyone. We may transfer land rights from one Indian to another, but the original land purchase must remain intact and with the Eastern Band as a whole. Since the original agreement was signed, the tribe has purchased lands outside of the original trust that do not fall under the protective umbrella of the trust agreement. Lands we own outside of trust are governed by municipal land rights laws. So, the 56,600 acres of land in the original trust and a few additional acres of land purchased by the tribe and added to the original trust lands are locked from anyone inside or outside the tribe from an ownership perspective.
But not being able to sell the land externally doesn’t mean it will not be used by those who are not members. In many cases, Cherokee people who have property rights to parcels of land choose to lease the land and they may do so to whoever they choose, Indian or not. Within the confines of certain business regulations established by the tribe, many of those regulations mirroring state and federal edicts, the renter may use the property as they see fit. Several years ago, I was part of a program and project initiative (or two) to revisit and revitalize the business district, which included defining what the business district was since the tribe had not subscribed to an official zoning plan and the word “zoning’ was used only in whispers in the dark hallways of tribal government. It was considered a dirty word. One of the many challenges to, for example, making a uniform change to the look of the downtown area, and making appearance standards as a policy, was the number of leases and subleases one would need to go through to get a commitment to invest in a facade when they may be on a one-to-five-year lease. When making structural changes, you would surely want to be in business long enough to recover your investment in those changes. But as a renter, it is more likely not to fit your business model. The same is true with an initiative to get craft shops to carry a higher percentage of authentic Cherokee arts and crafts rather than the large quantity of mass-produced, foreign-made tourist trinkets that are common in the business district craft shops. When a business owner, who is likely to be a non-tribal member renter, is approached about devoting more of their selling space to Cherokee crafts, which they may make five to twenty percent profit on, and devote less space to the foreign trinkets, which they may make fifty to eighty percent profit on, you may see a derisive smirk if not out and out belly laughter.
So, dealing with the business community is one of the roles our leadership has the responsibility for. The Tribal Business Committee meets off-camera and in executive session. Always. This is a body consisting of the Ugvwiyuhi, Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief), and six members of the Dinilawigi including the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of Dinilawigi. That body is where businesses go to petition the tribe regarding land use and business. “The Committee shall approve all sales of improvements among Tribal members together with any transfers of ownership of occupancy of any Tribal lands. The Committee shall negotiate and execute in behalf of the Tribe all leases or permits for both assigned and unassigned Tribal lands in compliance with existing Tribal law and federal law and regulations appertaining thereto and based upon the merits of each application.” (Cherokee Code Section 117-33). Just one of the many irons.
The level of expertise needed to navigate the complexities of big business is monumental. Think about it. Besides the day-to-day challenges of tribal government operations, the tribe also owns, either outright or through subsidiaries, off-boundary adult gaming facilities, rental properties in Tennessee (our land is the home of a store in the Buc-ee’s chain, several off-boundary properties through Kituwah, LLC (I have a now outdated list of several properties). Then on-Boundary we have our very popular adult gaming operations and a popularly talked about cannabis farm and dispensary. When dealing with this collectively, I can see where for anyone, or any 14 people, this might be overwhelming. That is why a network of highly trained and educated professionals is essential for success. And, as it is with most big business, you need that expertise to be in play like yesterday. There is no time to wait.
I have the privilege and responsibility of proofing the One Feather before it gets to you. In performing that task, I review the job advertisements that we receive. By the way, if you are on-Boundary, it is a law in the tribal code that if you have an opening, it is to be published, and advertised, in the newspaper. Not my law. Tribal law.
In looking at those job ads, you get a sense of the enormity of our irons in the fire. EBCI Human Resources posted 34 vacancies this week. It is actually more than that. Quite a few of those ads for job descriptions are tagged “multiple”, meaning that there is more than one position in that job description available. So, we have no idea how many beyond the 34 are needed. The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority posted 52 positions in need of being filled, many skilled positions necessary for the care of our people. Cherokee Central Schools needs at least 13 positions filled, again, the term “elementary teachers” is used, indicating that more employees are needed in that one job title, so more overall. 12 people are needed to fill Cherokee Boys Club positions. At our adult gaming operation, the Cherokee location lists 62 positions available on its website, with the Murphy location listing 40 openings. This doesn’t consider the many jobs standing unfilled on the Boundary that business owners cannot find hires for.
As blessed as we are as a Tribe with goods and services, it is hard to imagine that many of us are not seeing reduced availability and access to those very products of the Tribe, particularly in light of the frugal position we have assumed because of the previously announced concerned leveraging of our assets and cash flow, and with the impact of increased competition in our economic development space. A glaring example comes during a Tribal Council work session on the new Tsali Care facility. Casey Cooper, chief operating officer of the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority (CIHA), gave what was, in my opinion, one of the most transparent and impassioned presentations to leadership that we have seen in many moons. Casey spoke about the critical staffing issues and the inability to engage and retain qualified leadership, a situation that has run the course of years. Going back as far as 1997, he stated that over time several models of care had been attempted at the facility, characterizing the two decades as a struggle for sustainability. Please go back and watch the August 8th session as it was very informative up until the time that community members had the opportunity to provide input. I think Ugvwiyuhi Hicks did a great service to the community by requesting this work session and allowing Casey’s very detailed, informative presentation to remain in the public domain, honoring the community’s right to know.
Add to the many irons in the fire our challenges when it comes to apathy and entitlement. At a hospital, doctor’s office, or specialist office, a “no show” is when a patient calls for and is given an appointment, then without notification, fails to “show up” or keep the appointment. According to the CIHA, in July alone, there were 678 no-shows at primary care, radiology, and physical therapy. We can only conjecture that some of those no-shows were due to emergencies, but many or most were likely people who forgot or just decided not to come in for their appointment. With staffing challenges already making scheduling difficult, no-shows further prevent other community members from getting the care they need in a timely manner.
Use whatever analogy you choose, irons in the fire, juggling several balls in the air. We, because of the sheer volume of transactions going on in our government, need to pay attention. Due to the constrictions in information sharing, justified or not, we will all need to be more diligent in communicating with our leadership and making our voices heard. And contrary to some beliefs, time is not on our side. Ask any blacksmith or juggler, it is only a matter of time before irons overheat and balls are dropped.
